


Death, and the Many Ways to Unintentionaly Cheat it

by Agent3Novi



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Female Link, Gen, Grief/Mourning, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Temporary Character Death, Video Game Mechanics, What Have I Done, also the violence isnt that graphic but idk where the line is so this is tagged GDoV just to be safe, except maybe a little more graphic, for all of like thirty seconds, look it's only for one chapter okay?, look its a bunch of game-overs from an in-universe perspective
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24683329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent3Novi/pseuds/Agent3Novi
Summary: A collection of one-shots examining game-overs and player-deaths from an in-universe perspective. Not strictly LoZ but probably going to be mostly it.Chapter 1: False awakenings on KholintChapter 2: Ten-second-revivals courtesy of Force Gems
Relationships: Blue Link & Green Link & Red Link & Shadow Link & Vio Link, Link/Marin (Legend of Zelda), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	1. False Awakenings

**Author's Note:**

> Undertale has rubbed off on me too much.
> 
> Anyways yeah, hope you enjoy these speculations of game-overs and reloads that I wrote for some reason
> 
> Also final warning! One or more main characters die in each one of these! They don't stay dead but!!! You have been warned!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So remember how in Link's Awakening you get a special ending if you don't die in your playthrough?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small FYI, Link uses she/her in this one because I wrote this to connect with my au blog @ask-a-cryptid-and-a-normie, but don't worry you don't need to read the blog to understand this

The first time Link died was in the Catfish’s Maw. Fighting two Ghomas was tough. Every time one exposed its weak point and she readied an arrow to hit it, the other would come charging. Link may have been an experienced adventurer, but even she couldn’t dodge every fireball and claw. 

She was barely standing, but so were the Ghomas. The front one shot off a fireball and she stepped out of the way, an arrow already pointing at the monster’s exposed eye. It flew and hit it dead center, and Link let herself cheer as it began to dissolve into smoke and sparks. She took advantage of the moment to reach into her bag for a bottled fairy, it would be good to heal up while she could.

Wrong move.

The other Ghoma’s spidery leg shot out of the thinning smoke, and Link only had a moment to realise that the bottle, her  _ only _ bottle, was empty before the monster’s claw went clean through her stomach.

A moment of piercing pain, then it was gone. Link gasped and opened her eyes. When had she closed them? The sky above was the perfect sunny blue with swirls of white that it always was on Kholint. There was sand under her hands and getting in her hair and waves washing up and getting her boots wet. How- where-?

A shadow passed over her, and then locks of orange hair were tickling her nose as Marin leaned over with a smile. “Link…? Did you go out for a swim again?”

She couldn’t help herself, Link smiled back, “Ah… something like that.”

Marin giggled and pulled the hero up, “Next time we should go together, I know lot’s of good spots, you know.”

“Sure, we’ll make it a date,” Link agreed.

“Oh you-” Marin gave her a light shove, to which Link just laughed and took her hand. As the two walked back to Mabe Village, Link couldn’t help thinking of the image of the Ghoma’s claw embedded in her abdomen. That... couldn’t have  _ really _ happened, right? That would have killed her, and she was perfectly fine now, no remnants of the injuries acquired throughout the Catfish’s Maw. It was like a nightmare... Yeah, that’s probably all it was. 

Though somewhere in the back of Link’s mind, she felt a deep-rooted sadness. The certainty that something had been ruined by her failure was a feeling that would linger until the end.


	2. Ten-Second Grace Period

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So remember how in Four Swords Adventures you only game-over when _all_ players go down in the ten-seconds it takes for someone to get revived? And you also lose all your Force Gems?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Admittedly, part of the inspiration for this one was my writing teacher's character development tip of "If you have a character that generally acts a certain way, emotionally, logically, etcetera, try imagining what would make them act the opposite? What brings a stable and logical character to hysterics? What makes an emotional and childish character step up to calmly take control of the situation?"

In the midst of the settling dust it felt like the earth had been ripped from beneath their feet. A hollow feeling, like something had taken a piece of them and violently took it away. Their injuries seemed so small and insignificant in comparison.

_ Green… _

Red was utterly silent, a distant look on his face. He couldn’t process it, he  _ refused _ to process it, because if he processed it that made it  _ real _ ..

_ Green was… _

Blue was openly weeping, not making a single move to stop, not caring that his reputation as the “tough one” was in shambles, because how tough could he  _ really _ be if he had let this happen…

_ Green was… _

__ Vio was hysterical, for once refusing to accept the truth, thoughts ground to a halt. All he could do was cradle his brother in his arms and chant “wake up wake up wake up Green come  _ on wake up- _ ”

But he wouldn’t, never would again after a hit like that.

_ Green was dead. _

Their leader’s lifeless eyes stared blankly into the sky as his blood stained Vio’s clothes and the stone floor. They had wondered about this exact situation, back when the four were freshly split. If one part died, would the others as well? Being parts of the same person? Well, now they knew, though they would have happily gone their whole lives  _ without _ knowing if it meant… if it meant…

Red fell to his knees, still staring blankly into space. If only he had been observant enough to see the hit coming, then Green wouldn’t have taken it for him. Hell, if only he had been strong enough to kill more of the monsters before that point so they wouldn’t have gotten overwhelmed in the first place! He really was the weakest of them… he was just a hindrance, and his failure had cost Green… had cost his brother...

Blue took in a shuddering breath. How could he have been so dumb to turn his attention away?! How good was he as the strong protector of the group if he couldn’t even kill the right monster before it killed them?! How good was that strength when he couldn’t even save his own brother…? He really was just a cocky child playing at being a hero… wasn’t he…?

Vio’s words trailed off as he slumped forward. That was such a stupid,  _ obvious mistake _ and yet he  _ made it _ , him, the supposedly smart one of the group! What good was “being smart” and strategizing five steps ahead of the enemy when it meant he missed the fatal step one?! And even  _ when _ he saw the hit coming, all the brain-power in the world couldn’t have stopped it from twenty feet away, already fighting for his  _ own _ life, much less his brother’s. He really was powerless… they all were… 

The three gasped as a new feeling washed over them. Like something was being ripped from them, though not as deep-seated as before. This was much more painful though, like pins and needles right in their heart. If they weren’t already on the ground, they would have fallen over from the shock.

The gems in the Four Swords glowed, pulsing in time with the pain. They could see it clearest in Red’s, since he hadn’t sheathed it, but all of them were shining. All of a sudden, the pain vanished, and the gems glowed a pure white. A stream of triangular particles flowed out from the gems that fizzed with raw energy, like raw Force. No, it  _ was _ raw Force.

The streams all converged around Green’s body, flowing into the numerous cuts, gashes, and bruises. The injuries turned the same white as the pure Force, then green, then faded into nothing at all. Vio gasped as he felt a pulse beneath his fingers.

The three hadn’t noticed when, but at some point Green’s eyes had shut, and now they blinked open, as bright and lively as the day they split.

“Wha…?” 

“Green…?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you… okay?”

“I… I think so? I’ve got a nasty headache but other than that… I’m fine…?”

Out of nowhere, Blue started laughing. Then Vio did, and so did Red, and soon the brothers were laughing and crying and hugging each other like they would lose each other forever if they let go. 

After the biggest of the emotions had passed, Vio sniffed and said, “Well, at least now we know a second use for Force Gems.”

_ Green was alive, and they would go to hell and back to make sure he stayed that way. _

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated! Concrit is welcome and also if you have any ideas for future one-shots those are welcome too!


End file.
